Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
Local Turkish Community Rallies For Earthquake Relief — Here's How You Can Help

Southern California’s Turkish community has sprung into action following Monday’s devastating earthquake that has killed thousands in Turkey and Syria.
Turkish American groups and businesses have been collecting donations for relief. One firm, a Turkish-owned grocery delivery company called Bakkal, has been sending cars and vans out to pick up donated items from businesses and homes.
Bakkal founder and CEO Murat Karslioglu listed a few of the things they’re collecting: “First-aid kits, over-the-counter medication, diapers, clothes, sleeping bags and blankets.”
Volunteers and workers are also picking up tents, hand warmers, and other cold-weather aid for people who’ve lost their homes, he said.
“We do deliveries, with vans or cars, and we thought this is where we can help,” Karslioglu said.
Bakkal, which Karslioglu describes as sort of an “Instacart for ethnic groceries,” has offices in northern California and Los Angeles, and a warehouse in Wilmington, where some of the donations are being sorted.
He said the company is coordinating with local Turkish American groups and the Turkish consulate to collect donations in the L.A. area and also in the Bay Area, and with Turkish Airlines to have them flown overseas. You can peruse a list of items that are in demand here.
Karslioglu said he survived a 7.6-magnitude earthquake that struck northwestern Turkey in 1999, so he can imagine the dire need that exists now.
“The shortest path to recovery is to provide immediate emergency materials,” he said, “because there is going to be a shortage.”
Other Turkish American groups have posted requests for relief donations online, among them the Association of Turkish Americans of Southern California.
-
- Asking for monetary and supply donations of tents, heaters, blankets, thermal clothes, meals ready-to-eat for at least 5,000 people, first aid kids
- Operates an office in Turkey, near the epicenter of the quake
- Reach out to Alper Mavi, a program coordinator
- +90 538 5159806
- Alper.mavi@ibc.org.tr
-
- Asking for monetary donations through a direct bank deposit (info available here through Twitter)
- Similar to the Red Cross, it provides medical aid and basic needs supplies such as blankets and food
-
Syrian American Medical Society
- Asking for monetary donations to buy trauma supplies
- A medical relief organization that operates hospitals along the Syrian border focused on refugees
-
- Asking for monetary donations
- Runs a facility along the Turkey/Syria border to educate young leaders
-
- Asking for monetary donations to provide basic needs and supplies
- Provides emergency relief such as food and health care during natural disasters
-
- Asking for monetary donations that will go to general fund to build shelters
- Will send stoves, thermal blankets, and clothing
-
- This grocery-delivery company is collecting donations in L.A. and the Bay Area and delivering them to the local Turkish consulate.
- Fill out this form if you wish to donate — it includes a list of items that are in demand.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.

-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity.
-
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?